ACCT100 Principles of Accounting

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit takes as its theme the use of accounting information for decision-making. Students will eventually become members of organisations - businesses, government departments, universities, charities, religious organisations, sporting clubs, social clubs - which share a common problem: limited resources are available for pursuing organisational goals. As a consequence, individuals are regularly confronted by the need to make important economic decisions. Accounting information is usually a vital input to those decisions. Hence, students, as individuals who will be involved in the decision-making process, need to know how to use accounting information in making economic decisions. To make many decisions in an effective way, they need to become “accounting literate”. This unit exposes students to a range of economic decision problems, with various types of accounting and other forms of information relevant to addressing the problems.

ACCT104 Business Accounting

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation

This unit is taught in the distance education mode and is presented in two parts. Part one consists of 12 topics presented over 12 weeks. There will be a new module (topic) every week. Each module consists of required reading, outcomes, key terms, summary or required reading and an assessment item. Part two consists of residential school sessions.

This is an introductory unit that provides students with basic knowledge and skills in applying accounting techniques at a management standard, suitable for an office situation. Students will learn accounting terminology, financial accounting concepts, accounting standards, basic analysis of financial statements, costing concepts, how to utilise accounting information in short term decision making, and the basics of capital investment analysis and budgetary analysis.

ACCT203 Company Accounting

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT207 Historic Cost Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Companies and the capitalist system of economic organisation are strongly linked. The company form of organisation has been the most successful vehicle yet devised for pooling the savings and resources of many people and investing them to generate wealth. The fortune of these companies is vital for the economic well-being of society and their performance is closely watched. The key indicator of company performance is provided by company financial reports. An understanding of the accounting methods used to assemble these financial reports is essential if the performance of any company is to be successfully evaluated.

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of, and practise in applying, those accounting methods that are used in forming, reorganising, consolidating and liquidating company structures, and preparing financial statements for companies and groups of companies that comply with all legal and accounting requirements. It is also designed to highlight where the weaknesses exist in financial reporting by companies.

ACCT204 Managerial Accounting Concepts

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT100 Principles of Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit provides the first in depth study of management accounting, which is one of the core streams in the study of accounting. It presents an essential set of concepts, skills and techniques for accounting majors. Building on other core units it provides a knowledge base applicable to all potential managers in organisations, and therefore is relevant to students undertaking other majors.

ACCT205 Accounting Information Systems

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT207 Historic Cost Accounting, ACCT204 Managerial Accounting Concepts
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Accounting is about providing information for decision-making. Traditionally, accountants recorded those transactions and events with financial implications in journals and ledgers. At the end of set periods they calculated profit or loss and reported on the financial position of the firm. They also assisted management by preparing budgets, calculating variances and dealing with financing matters. Many accountants were involved in auditing accounting records and in tax compliance work. Increasingly, these traditional roles are being changed by forces outside the accounting profession and by the responses of accountants to them.
The use of computers for electronic data processing and decision support is one of the most significant developments affecting accounting. Others include globalisation of business and the increasing complexity of modern business activities.

In this unit, we first consider the business activities that take place in organisations. At the basic level, these might be seen to be 'transactions' such as the contribution of capital, the purchase of assets, the conversion of raw materials, and the sale of goods and services. However, it can be more helpful to understand these activities in broader terms, as processes or business cycles with organisations. Students will study these processes from a systems approach, considering the various events and relationships that make up the processes, and analysing the information needed by management to plan and control them, and the information needed by other stakeholders.

ACCT207 Historic Cost Accounting

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT100 Principles of Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of the practical application of the historic cost financial accounting model, and its development from a paper-based manual activity through to a telecommunications-based data base activity. It explores the conceptual basis for accounting activities and the economic implications of applying Australian Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and specific accounting standards. The unit considers General Purpose Financial Reporting within the Australian Conceptual Framework (Statements of Accounting Concepts) and Australian Accounting Standards.

ACCT300 Auditing and Assurance Services

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT100 Principles of Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Auditing and assurance services provide credence to published financial statements, and therefore are one of the major activities of the accounting profession. This unit introduces students to the concepts and practice of auditing, the way the profession has developed and the way the profession is meeting current business and social needs. In addition, the use of statistical sampling techniques and EDP systems in auditing will be reviewed.

ACCT303 Strategic Managerial Decisions

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT204 Managerial Accounting Concepts
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit builds upon the core of management accounting issues and control systems knowledge developed in ACCT204 Managerial Accounting Concepts. It provides an extension of management accounting to areas of decision support and managerial control. The emphasis is upon decision and control issues in contemporary society. Students will be introduced to various decision and control concepts, techniques and skills, including; activity-based budgeting and management, capital budgeting, inventory management, issues of centralisation and decentralisation, and performance measurement and capacity problems.

ACCT304 Accounting Theory

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT203 Company Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Accounting academics and practitioners have long studied the practices of accounting to make sense of them within some coherent framework. It seems generally agreed that the financial performance and position for any business are important, but views differ markedly about the way these concepts should be reported.

This unit focuses primarily on attempts made to date to provide more useful, consistent and coherent means of measuring performance, as performance is currently seen as the critical indicator of economic activity. As we shall discover though, assumptions about the nature of performance, ipso facto lead to assumptions about the nature and measurement of financial position, and the objectives of financial reporting. The unit also focuses on the methodologies employed in developing accounting policies both in Australia and overseas. It concentrates on how decision makers, both use accounting information and are involved in its development, by examining the various theoretical approaches which underpin a multi-paradigm discipline.

ACCT305 Accounting for Insolvency

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT207 Historic Cost Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit provides the students with a study of accounting for insolvency, which is an optimal stream in the study of accounting discipline. It provides an essential set of concepts, skills and techniques to business majors who are potential managers in business. The subject is also designed to provide students with learning experiences that will enable them to gain an understanding of the financial management mistakes leading to these business failures or near failures. It develops an understanding and an appreciation of the accounting requirements for business enterprises that are insolvent. It encourages students to develop a basis for research and analytical skills specifically appropriate for diagnosing issues and problems as well as evaluating and interpreting the different characteristics related to business rescue, reconstruction and liquidations by the use of case studies and participating in a group research project. The unit covers a number of important current events and will not only inform students about the major issues, ideas and developments, but also stimulate further inquiry and debate.

ACCT306 Accounting for Small Business

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT100 Principles of Accounting
Teaching Organisation 4 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit provides the first in-depth study of the operation and management of a Small Business as an introduction to the Small Business sub major. As such the course differentiates the particular nature of Small Business and the skills and techniques that are relevant to Small Business Accounting.

ACCT600 Accounting for Decision-Making

10 cp
Prerequisites Nil
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.
This unit takes as its theme the use of accounting information for decision-making. All of you will be members of organisations - businesses, government departments, universities, charities, religious organisations, sporting clubs, social clubs - which share a common problem: limited resources are available for pursuing organisational goals. As a consequence, managers are regularly confronted by the need to make important economic decisions. Accounting information is usually a vital input to those decisions. Hence, you, as a manager who will be involved in the decision-making process, need to know how to use accounting information in making economic decisions. To make many decisions in an effective way, you need to become “accounting literate”.

ACCT601 Australian Auditing and Assurance Services

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT600 Accounting for Decision-Making
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Auditing and assurance services, provide credence to published financial statements, and therefore is one of the major activities of the accounting profession. This unit introduces students to the concepts and practice of auditing, the way the profession has developed and the way the profession is meeting current business and social needs. In addition, the use of statistical sampling techniques and EDP systems in auditing will be reviewed.

ACCT602 Accounting and Accountability

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT600 Accounting for Decision-Making
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit has been designed to provide students with the opportunity to develop an understanding of the relationship between accounting and the economic, social and natural environments. It provides students with the opportunity to focus on the concept of accountability and to what extent conventional accounting discharges the public interest commitment of the accounting profession.

ACCT603 Accounting for Corporate Structures

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT600 Accounting for Decision-Making
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

The company form of organisation has been the most successful vehicle yet devised for pooling the savings and resources of many people and investing them to generate wealth. The fortune of these companies is vital for the economic well-being of society and their performance is closely watched. The key indicator of company performance is provided by company financial reports. An understanding of the accounting methods used to assemble these financial reports is essential if the performance of any company is to be successfully evaluated.

This unit is designed to provide students with an understanding of, and practise in applying, those accounting methods that are used in forming, reorganising, consolidating and liquidating company structures, and preparing financial statements for companies and groups of companies that comply with all legal and accounting requirements.

ACCT604 Strategic Managerial Accounting

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT600 Accounting for Decision-Making
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

Management accounting information plays an important role in planning and controlling organisational activities. Traditionally, management accounting systems have tended to produce primarily financial information for managers. However, with increased competition, the nature of management accounting systems has been extended to encompass both quantitative and qualitative non-financial information to help not just managers but also workers (employee empowerment) to plan and control their operations. The financial aspects of accounting control however continue to be stressed in the unit since they continue to play an important role in organisational control. Various cost concepts such as variable and fixed costs used in cost-volume-profit analysis and flexible budgeting, standard costing and variance analysis, differential costing and time value (cost) of money in capital budgeting decisions will be covered. These cost information systems help managers make various decisions such as pricing and product mix decisions and product and process design decisions. They also help managers monitor and regulate the performance of individual employees, business units and the entire organisation. In addition, more contemporary accounting controls such as activity based costing and management and quality management will be covered.

ACCT605 Strategic Resource Management

10 cp
Prerequisites ACCT604 Strategic Managerial Accounting
Teaching Organisation 3 hours per week for 12 weeks or equivalent.

This unit builds upon the core of management accounting issues and control systems knowledge developed in ACCT604 Strategic Managerial Accounting. It provides an extension of management accounting to organisational strategic areas of quality and performance.The unit focuses on the analysis of performance and customer profitability through the development of advanced management accounting technologies. Students will be introduced to various decision and control concepts strategies, including, activity-based costing and activity-based management, value chain analysis and customer profitability analysis, benchmarking, and performance measurement techniques including the balanced scorecard.